One thing I have heard bad about the CRT's is that the parts wear out fairly fast. Not good IMO.
You might want to wait for mike to bring out the new slipper he is working on before you start your project. Running without a slipper will wear and most likely break things. I think that is why Jammins seem to wear so fast 9+lbs bigblock with lots of torque and no slipper tends to stress stuff.
Never fight an ugly man..... he has nothing to loose